My legs gave out. I sank onto the edge of the bed.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. And get this...he's exactly what you've been dreaming about. You want to be a sports photographer, right? Work in PR for a major team? This man is literally at the top of the industry you're trying to break into."

The room tilted sideways.

"Aria." My voice sounded strangled. " You won't believe what just happened."

"What? Did you see him again?"

"Worse." I could barely form the words. "So much worse."

"What could be worse than kissing a hockey mogul and going viral?"

"Gavin is my mom's fiancé."

Silence. Complete, suffocating silence.

"The man I kissed..." My voice broke. "He's going to be my stepfather ."

"No. No, no, no. Melissa, are you serious right now?"

"I wish I wasn't." Nausea rolled through me. "He's engaged to my mother. They're getting married in ten months. And I kissed him. I can still feel his hands on my waist, Aria. I can still..."

"Melissa, breathe. You didn't know."

"How am I supposed to live here? Under the same roof? Pretending like nothing happened?"

"You have to stay away from him," Aria said firmly. "You avoid him. It won't be easy, but for your mom's sake, you have to pretend it never happened."

For your mom's sake. For some reason those words made me angry.

"I'm sorry I have to go."

"Mel, wait..."

I ended the call before she could say any other thing.

I was angry, I was upset and worst of all I didn't know why I felt like this.

I couldn't sit still.

I opened the door cautiously. The hallway was empty and silent.

I crept forward, my heart pounding with every step.

Where is he?

I needed to talk to him. He can't tell my mom what happened, it will crush her.

Then I heard someone talking. I followed the sound to a partially open door...his office, maybe.

I shouldn't eavesdrop. I knew I shouldn't

But my feet stopped moving.

"...so grateful, Gavin." My mother's voice was warm, almost tender. "You have no idea what this means to us. To me."

I turned and walked away before I could hear his response.

But then I saw a photograph on the hallway wall. I'd walked past it without noticing before, but now it stopped me cold in my tracks.

Gavin stood beside a younger man ...maybe in his mid-twenties. The resemblance was striking. Same strong jaw. Same intense eyes, though the younger man's were green instead of ice-blue. Same athletic build.

They stood in front of a race car, both wearing racing suits. The younger man had his arm slung around Gavin's shoulders, grinning widely. But Gavin's expression was plain.

My stomach dropped.

A son. He has a son.

The realization hit me like cold water. Of course he did. A man his age, this successful, this established...why wouldn't he have children?

Which meant I didn't just have a stepfather. I also had a stepbrother.

The thought made my skin crawl.

......

Hours passed. Mom left to pick up more of our things from storage. She asked if I wanted to come.

I told her I was tired, and had a headache.

I was in the kitchen pouring myself a glass of water when I felt his presence behind me.

I spun too fast, nearly dropping the glass. Wetting my hands a bit.

He stood there in his white dress shirt...sleeves rolled to his elbows now...and black slacks. His ice-blue eyes locked onto mine.

"I..." My voice came out high and strangled. "I didn't see you there."

Heat flooded my face. My cheeks were burning...probably red as a tomato. I could feel the flush spreading down my neck.

"I'm sorry. I was just..." I set the glass down with trembling hands, nearly knocking it over.. "I didn't mean to... I"

He said nothing. Just watched me with those unreadable eyes.

My fingers twisted together, knuckles white. "Last night. I didn't know who you were." The words tumbled out in a rush. "I swear I didn't know . If I had known you were my mother's fiancé, I never would have... "

My voice cracked.

"Please don't tell my mom." The whisper came out broken, and desperate. "Please. She can't know. It was a mistake. A stupid, horrible mistake "

A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it.

I wiped it away with the back of my hand, but another followed.

"I didn't mean to..." My breath hitched.

He moved.

Each step made my heart pound harder until he stood right in front of me.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.

His hand lifted slowly .

I flinched.

But he only tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers barely grazing my skin.

His eyes searched my face...lingering on my tear-stained cheeks, my trembling lips, the pulse hammering in my throat.

"A mistake," he said quietly.

"Yes."

He looked at me for a short while before a faint scoff broke the silence.

"You really don't think before you act, do you?"

My head snapped up. "Excuse me?"

Anger flooded through me, fast and hot. "That's not fair."

His jaw flexed. "Life isn't."

My cheeks flushed pink, and my hands trembled at my sides.

"You don't even know me."

"Don't need to."

I stared at him, furious ... more at myself than him. "Go to hell."

"Already there," he said quietly, turning away.

He left before I could think of a reply.

(Third person pov)

The house was quiet when Gavin returned home at half past nine.

Vanessa walked closely behind him, with her red heels clicking against the marble floor .

She hadn't stopped talking since they left the arena....something about tomorrow's press conference, the new sponsorship deal, adjustments to the training schedule that apparently couldn't wait until morning.

He wasn't listening.

His mind was elsewhere, a young hazel eyes someone had been stuck in his head and it was exhausting.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to weasel the tension building up there.

"...and I thought we could finalize the roster changes over dinner tomorrow? There's that new Italian place in Midtown everyone's been raving about. Supposed to have the best..."

Vanessa suddenly stopped talking. Noticing Gavin wasn't paying attention to her in the slightest she followed his eyes to the sitting room where a young pretty girl sat with her laptop.

Melissa sat on the leather sofa, her laptop was balanced on her knees.

She wore an oversized sweater that slipped off one shoulder, exposing the delicate line of her collarbone, and cotton shorts that showed her cute legs . Her chestnut hair sat messily on top of her head, a few loose strands framing her face.

She looked beautiful just by simply existing.

Their eyes met and the way her fingers tightened on the laptop. And he saw the anger in her eyes directed towards him.

She closed her laptop and began gathering her things scattered over the chair.

Vanessa's smile vanished. Her voice immediately turned professional. "I'll just leave these files in your study, Mr. Gavin."

He walked passed her without saying anything

When she was done she walked toward the stairs without looking back.

It has been like this between them ever since what happened in the kitchen three days ago.

He told himself he liked it this way.

......

On getting to his study he took off his jacket, draping it on the back of his chair. He took off his tie, then rolled his sleeves revealing his tattooed forearm.

Vanessa poured him a whiskey into a crystal tumbler from the bar cart at the corner of the room, she didn't wait for him to as,

She has been his assistant for more than three years now, and she learned to read his mood all the time.

Her fingers brushed against his longer than necessary when she handed it to him. "You've been working too hard, Gavin. You need rest."

He took the whiskey but said nothing.

She moved to his desk and began organizing the files she'd brought. She moved in a seductive way that exposed her tight breasts .

Gavin walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows,holding his glass and looking at the city below.

Manhattan glittered like diamonds, it was one of the reasons he purchased this very building because of the view,

He pressed his free hand against the cool glass and tapped his fingers slowly against the surface...it was a habit he had never been able to break when his mind was filled with problems he couldn't solve.

His phone rang in his pocket.

He pulled it out and looked at the screen. The name glowing there made his stomach tighten.

Father

He stared at it for a long moment, he almost declined the call.

But then he answered.

"What."

"Benjamin." His father's voice was smooth and controlled.

He didn't say anything.

"It's been long since we spoke," his father said, his accent still carrying traces of the old country despite decades in America. "Three months, I believe. One might think you're avoiding me."

"One would be correct."

His father chuckled, dark with amusement. "Still so hostile after all these years. You are truly my blood ."

Gavin's free hand moved to the back of his neck, rubbing at the tension gathered there. "Get to the point."

"Very well." A pause. "I hear congratulations are in order. A wedding. You're playing house with a widow now. How... conventional of you."

"Things change."

"Do they?" His father's voice hardened almost imperceptibly. "Or do they simply come full circle? Come home, Gavin."

"No."

"Come home. Take your rightful place in the family. You've had your little rebellion...your hockey career, your franchises, your billions earned through legitimate means. Very impressive. Very noble. But it's over now. It's time to accept who you really are."

Gavin's jaw tightened, the muscle jumping beneath his skin. "Or what, Father?"

Silence.

The kind of silence that made his instincts scream.

When his father spoke again, his voice dropped to barely above a whisper, but each word landed with the precision of a surgical strike.

Gavin's vision tunneled. The city lights blurred.

" You have one month to come home, Benjamin. One month to take your place where you belong. Or I will make your life hell."

The line went dead.

Gavin stood frozen, phone still pressed to his ear.

His hand began to shake.

The rage he has been suppressing for years broke free.

Gavin turned and hurled the crystal tumbler across the room.

It exploded against the far wall shattering into a thousand glittering pieces.

Vanessa screamed.

She had been standing near the bookshelf arranging files, and the glass had missed her by inches. Shards glittered at her feet like fallen stars. Her hand flew to her chest, eyes wide with shock.

"Jesus Christ!" Her voice pitched high. "What the hell was that? You could have..."

Gavin didn't look at her.

HHis fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, knuckles white. He stared at the wall where whiskey dripped down.

Vanessa recovered quickly.

She stepped carefully over the broken glass, her heels crunching on crystal, and moved toward him.

"Gavin." Her voice softened, turned breathy and intimate. "You're stressed. I can see that. Let me help you."

She raised her hands slowly, placing it on his chest .

" You are always tense," she murmured, sliding her hands toward his shoulders. "Always carrying the weight of everything alone. The team. The businesses. Your family. You don't have to do that. Not with me."

She moved closer. Pressing her breast against him as she stood on her toes, bringing her lips close to his jaw.

" Please let me take care of you," she whispered. "Just for tonight. Let me make you forget whatever's bothering you. Let me..."

He grabbed her wrist firmly.

"Don't."

The temperature in the room dropped by ten degrees.

Vanessa froze, her breath catching audibly in her throat.

Gavin looked at her , His eyes were as cold as winter. It made all the colour drain from her face.

"If you touch me again, I'll fire you ," he said, his voice was barely above a whisper but it carried absolute, unquestionable authority, "Do you fucking understand me?"

Her face went white. " I...I was just trying to help. I thought you needed... "

"Do you understand ?"

"Yes." Tears slipped down her cheeks smudging her mascara. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry. I didn't mean... "

He pushed her away from him as if her skin burned him.

She stumbled backward, clutching her arm against her chest.

"Get out."

Grabbing her bag she ran out of the room, as the door slammed shut behind her.

He ran his hand over his hair, pushing the dark strands back from his face.